Purpose of the Project:

Robert Marzano, in his book The New Art and Science of Teaching shares, "Blended learning is no longer the future of classroom instruction, it is the present." The purpose of this project is to promote best practices in BlendEd learning.

Digital Age Pedagogy is a combination of best practices associated with Instructional Models (e.g., Marzano Unit Segments) enhanced with BlendEd learning instructional practices (e.g., Effective Differentiation during Direct Instruction) and the promotion of Digital Age Skills (e.g., Empowering Learners).

In order to complete the work of the project, Nebraska teachers currently utilizing technology tools to enhance Blended Learning strategies are eligible to apply. Qualities of participants include: desire to learn, willingness to share, accept constructive feedback, desire to implement innovative classroom strategies. (See participant responsibilities below)

To learn more about the work that will be expected for the project, review the Digital Age Skills page and the BlendEd Best Practices page. Examples from the 2018-2019 Digital Age Skills Project and 2018-2019 BlendEd Best Practices Project are available in Nebraska's OERCommons Hub.

Nebraska educators that have experience in utilizing technology tools to enhance Blended Learning strategies are asked to participate in the Digital Age Pedagogy Project sponsored by Nebraska Educational Service Units (ESUs) and Nebraska Department of Education (NDE). The project will accept up to 50 teachers to create a unit of instruction as well as up to ten coaches to support the creators of content.

There are two roles in this project.

1) A teacher participant creating artifact profile and create a unit of instruction. The teacher participant will receive $400 upon successful completion of the profile and unit.

2) A teacher coach that will work directly with five teacher participants from above. The teacher coach will receive $500 upon successful completion of upload their team's profile and unit.

Additional details are included in the 19-20 Digital Age Pedagogy Page

Coach Responsibilities:

1) Attend the virtual meeting on November 14, 2019, at 5:00 - 5:30 CT/4:00 - 4:30 MT.

2) Attend the virtual meeting for Participants on November 14 from 5:30-6:30 CT/4:30-5:30 MT.

3) Actively provide feedback to participants throughout the project. The workflow will be organized through Google Docs. Feedback to team members is expected within 1 week of participant submissions.

4) Meet for one day during the week of June 8, 2020, to upload participant submissions into OER Commons. Date to be announced.

5) Present their team's project outcomes at the Future Ready Conference on June 15-16, 2020 in Lincoln, NE.

Participant Responsibilities:

1) Attend the virtual meeting on November 14, 2019, from 5:30 - 6:30 CT/4:30 - 5:30 MT to discuss project expectations and meet the team and coaches.

2) Attend four, 1-hour webinars during January and February of 2020. Each webinar will explore one of the Cyclical Unit Design segments. Webinars will occur from 5:30 - 6:30 CT/4:30 - 5:30 MT. (See dates below in the timeline)

3) Submit to team coach one artifact profile from the Digital Age Skills component by December 20, 2019.

4) Interact with team coach throughout the process.

5) Submit to team coach one unit plan that addresses each Cyclical Unit Design segment (Empower Learners, Direct Instruction, Knowledge Deepening, Knowledge Application) by April 30, 2020.

6) Invited to attend/present at the Future Ready Conference on June 15-16, 2020 in Lincoln, NE.

Applications:

Applications for both roles are now closed.

Timeline of Digital Age Pedagogy Project: